How To Be Confident Of Your Salvation

The major theme of the Bible is God’s eternal plan to rescue us from the penalty, power, and presence of sin through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

God’s nature is holy, righteous, and just. Man is both sinful by nature and by choice. God’s solution? He has provided us a Savior!

Three weeks ago we looked at several descriptions of what Jesus did for us on the cross:

1. Substitution: Jesus died in my place.

2. Justification: Jesus made me right with God.

3. Reconciliation: Jesus made peace with God possible.

4. Adoption: Jesus made me a part of God’s family.

5. Redemption: Jesus purchased my salvation with His blood.

6. Propitiation: Jesus fully satisfied God’s justice.

7. Forgiveness: Jesus sent my sins away from me.

Even though God has provided us with all these riches, many Christians remain unsure of their salvation. Why do so many people lack the assurance of salvation?

• Because they cannot pinpoint a SPECIFIC TIME when they received Christ.

• Because they question the CORRECTNESS of the way they expressed faith in Christ.

“Did I pray the right prayer? Did I know everything I needed to know? Should I have felt differently?”

• Because of SINS they commit after salvation.

There is a difference between the personal assurance of my salvation and the promised security of my salvation. While I may or may not have a feeling of assurance, security is a fact based on the promise of God. In this sermon, we’re going to look at how God’s promise of salvation can deepen our confidence in our salvation.

I. THE PROMISED SECURITY OF SALVATION

Each member of the Trinity plays a part in our security as believers.

A. The sovereign decision of the FATHER

1. God has declared us “not guilty” in His sight and canceled the punishment that should have been ours.

“It tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16, 18).

2. God is at peace with me; the war between us is over.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

3. God has determined that nothing can ever separate me from His love.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

B. The high-priestly work of JESUS

In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the high priest was the highest spiritual leader. He alone got to enter the Holy of Holies and put blood of the mercy seat once a year on the Day of Atonement. Jesus is our High Priest. When Jesus died on the cross, He was both the ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate sacrificer. He lives forever to do the work of a high priest—to be our intercessor and our mediator.

1. Jesus lives to make INTERCESSION for me.

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb. 7:25).

An example of Christ’s intercession for us is found in John 17: “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one…. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:11, 15).

2. Jesus lives to MEDIATE for me.

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world” (John 2:1-2).

3. Jesus is FAITHFUL to me even when I am not faithful to Him.

“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Tim. 2:11-13).